foystonBrewer Ron Gansberg in the foyer of the new Cascade Barrel House

CASCADE BOTTLE RELEASE -- More than a year after winning gold and silver medals at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival, Cascade Brewing will begin selling 750 ml bottles of its Bourbonic Plague and Vlad the Imp-Aler at a release party this Saturday.

Cascade Brewmaster Ron Gansberg will be in attendance to promote the beers and answer any questions. From 4 - 5 p.m. and 6 -7 p.m., Gansberg will switch hats and hit the stage with his bluegrass-folk band, Black Lodge. The pub will be serving its typical menu, plus a smoked pork sandwich special beginning at 11 a.m.

Bourbonic Plague is a blend of strong dark porters aged in oak, wine and bourbon barrels, then blended with a dark porter that had been brewed with vanilla beans and cinnamon. The blend was then aged an additional 14 months on dates. The resulting beer is 12% ABV. This was the gold medal winner in the wood- and barrel-aged sour beer category at the 2009 GABF.

Vlad is a strong Northwest Sour, a blend of 23- and 25-degree Plato sour blonde quadruppels and sour bourbon barrel tripels aged in oak and bourbon barrels, then further blended with spiced blondes and left to condition for an additional five months. It comes in at 10.3% ABV. This beer won the silver medal in the same category as Bourbonic.

Each bottle retails for $22 and the maximum purchase per person is six bottles per style (this policy is subject to change based on availability).9 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, Cascade Brewing Barrel House, 939 SE Belmont St.

ART AND BEER -- Eric Steen and the Portland Art Museum bring you the second Art & Beer, an event that combines two wonderful things. Brewers from Coalition Brewing, Hopworks Urban Brewery and Rock Bottom toured the museum's collection, selected an artwork and made a beer inspired by that artwork. Artworks and beers will remain a closely guarded secret until tonight. It's part of Shine a Light, which includes performances, time-based art actions, music and more. Your $12 gets you admission to all the events and museum galleries, plus samples of the three newbeers.

6 p.m.-midnight Friday, Portland Art Museum 1219 S.W. Park Ave.; $12

CASCADE/WILDWOOD DINNER --Sous Chef Paul Kasten presents seven courses paired with Cascade's dimensional and complex sour and barrel-aged beers, including Sang Noir, Bourbonic Plague, Apricot Ale, Autumn Goseand others.7 p.m. Friday, Overton Room, Wildwood, 1221 N.W. 21st Ave; $60 perperson including gratuity, reservations:503-225-0130View full sizebrewpublicSarah Pederson, left, of Saraveza, and Angelo DeIeso of
Brewpublic.com both celebrate the second year of their respective
enterprises this week. Saraveza's second anniversary party is Saturday
at the pub, and Brewpublic's Killer Beer Week starts Wednesday at The
Beermongers.SARAVEZA IS 2 -- Saraveza turns 2 on Saturday -- which is hard tobelieve because it's such a perfectly Portland pub that it feels as ifwe've always been able to have a great beer among the Midwest beer signsand the Packers' fans. True to form, the Saraveza party is an all-dayextravaganza that includes gifts for the first 200 guests (21+only) aSNOB discount, a bottle cap contest, draft beers picked by Saraveza'sbeer-saavy staff, free pasties at 3 p.m. and a 10 p.m. toast with cakeand Russian River Consecration. 11 a.m.-midnight Saturday, Saraveza, 1004 N. Killingsworth St.

KILLER BEER WEEK -- Brewpublic, the blog, also turns 2 this week, andAngelo DeIeso has a week of great beer events starting Wednesday withKiller Beers of Bend, which features special kegs from five Bendbrewers. On Thursday, he takes the party across the river for KillerBeers of Washington. Watch this space and The Beer Here blog next weekfor details on the rest of Killer Beer Week. 5 p.m. Wednesday, The BeerMongers, 1125 S.E. Division St.; 4 p.m.Thursday, By The Bottle, 104 W. Evergreen Blvd., Vancouver

RYE NOT RELEASE --Alameda Brewhouse
releases their latest specialty brew today. “Rye Not?” is
the brainchild of brewer Eric Rolerkite and is a traditional Bavarian
Roggenbier. Alameda brewer Sean White says it's achance
to try a traditional style of beer that doesn’t make it to the states
very often, and is rarely brewed at American breweries.

The beer, which Rolerkite
describes as a cool-weather session beer, is dark brown, like a
dunkeweizen, and uses Alameda’s house Bavarian wheat strain to emphasize
banana and clove yeast aromas. Instead of wheat,
Alameda used a whopping 45 % Rye malt which gives it a discernible rye
flavor and mouthfeel. It comes in at 4.9% ABV, and about 15 IBU using
all Tettnager hops